I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to shoes and, more particularly, to a cleated athletic shoe.
II. Description of the Prior Art
There are many sports, such as football, baseball, soccer and the like, in which cleated athletic shoes are used during play. These previously known shoes typically comprise a sole having a plurality of cleats which protrude outwardly from the sole and which penetrate the ground surface in order to provide traction for the athlete. These cleats are constructed of any hard or rigid material, such as metal, plastic, hard rubber and the like.
While these previously known cleated athletic shoes provide satisfactory traction for the athlete when desired, i.e. when the athlete desires to move in one direction or another, they also inhibit movement of the shoe when traction is undesireable. Traction would be undesireable, for example, in the event of a sideward or transverse blow to the athlete's legs.
More specifically, when the athlete suffers a transverse blow to his or her legs while wearing cleated athletic shoes, the cleats and particularly the heel cleats tend to immobilize the shoe, and thus the athlete's feet even though the tranverse blow to the athlete's legs creates a light transverse force on the athlete's feet. This in turn frequently results in knee injuries, ankle injuries and the like.